After a globetrotting journey that started in Texas and included stops in Belgium and Singapore, an 18.8 million-cubic-foot (532,000 cubic-meter) super pressure balloon (SPB) arrived in Wanaka, New Zealand, March 9, in preparation for another journey—one that should take it around the world multiple times. This is the third consecutive year NASA has flown the …
NASA's Balloon Program Office successfully completed the second test flight of its Super Pressure Balloon (SPB) at 3:54 p.m. EDT, Saturday, July 2, setting a new flight duration record for a mid-latitude flight of a large scientific research balloon. The mission, which began at 7:35 p.m. EDT, May 16 (11:35 a.m., May 17, in New …
Forty days at float as of Saturday, June 25, and NASA's super pressure balloon (SPB) is presently flying above the south Pacific as it continues on its long-duration technology test and science flight. For the past two weeks, the balloon has etched out a whimsical groundtrack over the Pacific, slipping out of the more southerly …
While the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) gazes into space, another experiment is listening for whispers from the Earth itself. Housed in two humble white boxes tucked behind COSI's solar panel, a triad of microphones are recording infrasound – sound too deep for humans to hear. Infrasound sources include volcanoes, earthquakes, ocean waves, the aurora, …
NASA's 18.8 million-cubic-foot super pressure balloon hit another milestone at 9:17 a.m. EDT Monday, May 31, crossing the 169.24 east longitude line, officially completing its first circumnavigation of the globe. The balloon, flying the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) payload, achieved the milestone 14 days, 13 hours and 42 minutes after launching from Wanaka Airport, New …
NASA's super pressure balloon is quickly closing in on another milestone in its potentially record-breaking flight: first South American crossing. Eleven days after lifting off from Wanaka Airport, New Zealand, the balloon is on a trajectory to cross into South America at approximately 10 p.m. EDT, Friday, May 27, quickly transiting both Chile and Argentina. …
NASA's super pressure balloon took flight from Wanaka Airport, New Zealand, at 7:35 p.m. Monday, May 16 (in EDT), on a flight aiming for long-duration at mid-latitudes. Video and pictures from the launch operation follow.
WANAKA, New Zealand – NASA successfully launched a super pressure balloon (SPB) from Wanaka Airport, New Zealand, at 11:35 a.m. Tuesday, May 17, (7:35 p.m. EDT Monday, May 16) on a potentially record-breaking, around-the-world test flight. The purpose of the flight is to test and validate the SPB technology with the goal of long-duration flight …
NASA is targeting 7 p.m., Monday, May 16, (11 a.m., Tuesday, May 17, in New Zealand) to launch its super pressure balloon on a globetrotting, potentially 100-day test flight launching from Wanaka Airport, New Zealand. This is the fifth launch attempt for the balloon team. The launch can be tracked in the following ways: · …
